(first posted 4/26/2015) Can there be a more English name for a car than “Morris Oxford” – a combination of an old English family name and the home of Britain’s oldest university dating back to 12th century, from the founder of the company that built it and the city it was built in, respectively?
From 1913 to 1936 and again from 1948 to 1970, the Oxford name was applied to a family car by Morris; in 1926, over 40% of the cars produced in the UK were Morris Oxfords. Few model names have a history of that size.
In 1948, at the same time as the wonderful Issigonis designed Morris Minor was launched, Morris, then still separate from Austin, also launched a new Morris Oxford, known as the MO Series. This was the first monocoque Oxford, and stylistically looked liked a larger version of the Minor. Like many other examples of scaling styling up and down, it was not as visually successful as the original template, but nevertheless it was solid and capable vehicle. Power was from a 1476cc side valve four cylinder engine, and it was good for around 75 mph. This great example was spotted by johnh875 in Werribee, near Melbourne in Australia.
And for proof that it looked like a large Minor….I think they said “compare and contrast” at school
Morris, with the engineering being led by Alec Issigonis, had a replacement planned and with the merger with Austin in 1952 to create BMC, a major revision on this was imposed, as BMC quickly adopted a common engine policy.
BMC got many things wrong, had some bad luck and were just too insular and inward looking much of the time, but credit is due to them for one thing, at least. By 1955, three years after the Austin-Morris merger, all the main market products were powered one of three engines – the famous BMC A, B and C Series engines. The A Series is perhaps best known for its use in the Mini, Minor and ADO16; the C Series in the large Austin Westminster, Austin-Healey 3000 and MGC; and the B Series in everything in between, including the Oxford, the ADO17 Austin 1800 Landcrab, MGB and the Morris Marina, up to 1981.
The 1954 Oxford, known as the Series II, was the first Morris to use the B Series engine, alongside the new Austin A40 and A50 Cambridge saloons. The cars looked very different, in the UK at least were sold through different and competing dealer chains, but shared not just the B Series engine but also the gearbox and rear axles. The A40 was a 1.2 litre, the A50 was 1.5 litre; Morris had the 1.2 litre Morris Cowley (another old Morris name, taken from the area of Oxford the factory is in) and the 1.5 litre Oxford. The link between the Austin Cambridge and the Morris Oxford was not heavily publicised or even known, but subtly was there; you only had to look at the model names.
The styling of the Oxford was purely Morris though; this car was styled ahead of the merger and re-engined after it ahead of production. It shares several aesthetic details with potential Morris Minor replacements mocked up by Morris and with the Issigonis link, you can almost see some Mini in the grille and headlights. But, it lacks the charm and appeal of the Minor and now looks like a bulky, bulbous shape. Nicley intergrated parking lights, though, in the corners of the grille.
The Series II Oxford was an almost deliberately conservative car, with a typical leaf spring rear suspension, front torsion bar suspension, rack and pinion steering with a column coming into the cabin at an offset angle, so that a home market driver needed a longer right arm than left, and a column gear shift for the four speed box. The wheelbase was 97 inches, and it weighed just over a ton.
There was long wheelbase six cylinder version also, with an ten inch extension between the bulkhead and the front wheel to take the 2.6 litre BMC C Series engine, and known as the Morris Isis., named after the part of the River Thames that flows through the city of Oxford. This version was a sales disappointment, achieving around only 12,000 sales in four years.
The station wagon version, known as the Traveller (double l in the English English spelling of course) was the only two door variant, apart from the light commercial derivatives. The wagon area was again timber framed, in a similar way to the previous MO Series car and the Morris Minor Traveller but with a simpler construction. The construction method can clearly be taken as a pretty clear sign of the expected production volumes.
At this time, the station wagon (estate car is a more common British term) was very much in a state of evolution and definition. Rootes did not offer a Hillman Minx estate until the 1956 model; Vauxhall’s first estate was based on the 1957 Victor and the first factory estate from Ford was the 1961 Cortina. Prior to this, conversions similar in concept to this Morris were common, along with the smaller Hillman Husky and Ford Prefect Squire being available, as well as the Morris Minor Traveller.
The feature car, seen at Lord Nuffield’s home last summer, is a 1955 Oxford Traveller. Interestingly, this car has a third row of seats, folding into a well in the rear floor when not required, which were a factory fit option, creating a seven seater (2+3+2) layout. The seat belts are obviously a newer addition, but even so, it might not be most comfortable ride you’ve ever had.
In 1956, the car went to a Series III with some minor bodywork changes and some rather contrived two tone paint schemes. Mechanically, a higher compression ratio gave more power but no more speed. At the same time the Traveller was similarly updated.
The Traveller was revised much more comprehensively in 1958, with the two door wooden frame car being replaced by a four door, all steel body full on estate car, and which was only Series IV version of the Oxford.
The Nuffield Organisation (Morris, MG, Wosleley and Riley) had a long history of badge engineering, with Wolseley saloons matching Morris almost model for model and MG spinning variations from compact Morris cars for many years. The MO Series was matched by a Wolseley, and although the Series II Oxford was not turned into a Wolseley, its link to the Austin Cambridge was a clear sign of the future BMC had planned. BMC were already badge engineering Wolseley and MG saloons, using the B series engine, and so, in 1959, when the new Morris Oxford Series V, or Farina, was launched and shared not just its mechanical composition but the entire bodyshell with the Austin, and the MG, Wolseley and Riley versions, few were that surprised. After all, BMC still had two competing dealer chains to feed and over 40% of the UK market.
But the 1955 Oxford Series II is perhaps best known for its history 5000 miles from Oxford, in Kolkata, (then known as Calcutta) in north east India, close to the Bangladeshi border. In 1957, BMC sold the tooling and rights to the car to Hindustan Motors.
Hindustan Motors had an existing and lengthy relationship with Morris, having previously assembled the pre-war Morris 10 and the Oxford Series MO. It is worth noting that for many years, from the 1920s into the early 1950s, the exports from the British motor industry were heavily tilted in favour of the USA, cars like Jaguar, Triumph and MG, or to the British Empire and Commonwealth markets in India, Australasia and Africa. Often, exporting seemed to mean adding a tougher suspension and sun shade above the windscreen, and may be local assembly from a kit shipped out from Britain.
From 1954, the Series II Oxford had been assembled in Kolkata as the Hindustan Landmaster, but by 1958 it was adapted as the Ambassador. There were some minor styling changes and a new interior, and the original batch of cars had the old Morris side valve engine, before upgrading to the B Series in 1959. Not much changed on this car until 1979, when the option of a diesel version of the B Series engine was offered, with 37 bhp. 
In 1992, this was replaced with an Isuzu engine, with a five speed gearbox and another new interior.
The Ambassador was for many years the car most commonly associated with India – it was used for everything from a taxi in Kolkata and Delhi (but not Mumbai – there the Premier Padmini based on the 1950s Fiat was the preferred choice), to the preferred car of the middle classes and of government ministers and the armed forces, as well as the police.
Arriving in a white Ambassador with a red light on the roof will still quickly get you where you need to be in India today.
The Ambassador was in production, uninterrupted, from 1958 to 2014, a total of 56 years. At its peak it was selling 25,000 a year in India and Pakistan, where it was the undisputed national car – a sort of combination of Ford Model T, VW Beetle and Rolls-Royce. It may have been, by the end of its production, grossly inadequate by Western standards but its position in Indian motoring history is completely assured, and the link from Ambassador to Morris Oxford always present. There was even an attempt to import and market the car in the UK in 1993, although this was unsuccessful. Arguably, it was the last Issigonis designed car to be in production.
II wonder if you did expected to read that when you started this piece.
Roger, your last paragraph was indeed a surprise!
The stamina of this car is amazing. 56 years, in all kinds of brutal and harsh uses, and it keeps chugging along.
There is some definite Mini DNA found in the Series II – I was thinking that even before I read it.
Thank you for your providing an ongoing education. I’m truly enjoying it.
Nice segue out of Wagon Week, at that.
Thank you for another splendid read Roger
We aren’t calling it “Calcutta” anymore? Modern life is confusing enough and now we’re changing spellings….
I really like the Oxford, I have seen a few Minors here on the west coast USA but never one of these. They seem to possess a fundamental sense of conservative quality.
I think the idea is to reflect how the folk who live there pronounce it; after all, it’s their city.
Mind you, applying that worldwide could be interesting and challenging. Melbourne Australia would wind up as Melbin – can’t see that catching on. 🙂
There was a move to change things back to an older spelling years ago. Bombay is now Mumbai. It must have cost a fortune to change all the signage.
Interesting read, thanks! Assorted comments:
•The Oxford’s pleasant design conservatism was a nice contrast to increasingly absurd trends this side of the Atlantic, & turned out to be a good thing in light of India’s long-lived adoption of it;
•I like the instrument panel; as with many other vintage British cars, it doesn’t look horribly dated & kitschy;
•Does anyone had an insider’s account of Indian cars from that era? Even Japan seems like an open book by comparison. I know generally that India had settled on a handful of British designs for several decades. It’s surprising how influential Britain once was in the Asian car industry; no doubt her colonialism had much to do with this, just at France’s had in Africa;
•It’s ironic that BMC rationalized its engines long before that ostensible paragon of American industrial efficiency, GM.
That rationalization came about with the big merger Austin ended up the majority partner so Austin engines reigned supreme and gone were the ancient sidevalve efforts from Morris and the OHC wolseley engines also the twincam fours from Riley were deleted. The early A series in 803cc form was not any good, though the B series had few faults other than those associated with worn tooling resulting in 3 sizes of standard pistons, I owned a very rusty Isis with 2.6 engine and a very rusty 66 Oxford wagon the Isis had a nice ride over any surface and the Oxford had the usual unpredictable handling associated with the A55/60 chassis.
Worn tooling?? Incredible; that suggests a lack of statistical process control (conceived by Walter Shewhart @ Bell Labs in the 1920s, after reading British works on statistics). But then, author Len Deighton remarked (in a book on WW2) that British spare parts often had to be filed to fit, as if they never learned from even Eli Whitney et al.
Datsun made a better B series and A series motor than BMC.
My late father would have a few choice words to say about that early B-series in his series II Oxford, and by extension everything from the house of Austin. An ex-military man, they’d be unprintable, for sure. I think he’d gladly have swapped it for the old sidevalve four from his MO. Until he felt what 20% less horsepower felt like in that big roomy body anyway,
Great read Roger!
Nice fire engine. Were Tesco arranging a firesale to solve their cash issues?
Photo was taken in Glasgow, so I imagine it’s pretty regular at the shopping centre…
CC effect – I saw a very smart (but very slow) MONTH series Oxford driving near Selborne Hants just last week.
I never knew there was a 4-door, steel-bodied Traveller prior to the Farina series. Interesting look. The green woody Oxford Traveller seen here is beautiful, I’ve seen a couple of Minor/1000 Travellers but never an Oxford… not entirely sure if they made it over to the U.S.A.
So now that the Hindustan Ambassador is finally in the history books, what’s the oldest car left in production?
Surf the cohort I shot an all steel Oxcart wagon this time last year they are quite common in NZ appearing regularly on trademe.
You can make a case for the Land-Rover, 67 years and due to retire this year
Some of us are expecting a CC on the Land Rover – the best four by four by far.
Ah memories! Thank you, Roger!
The first family car I remember was a series II Oxford. It was a darker blue than the one in the photos, and had a brown leather interior. I think it was one of the first series II models in Melbourne – apparently it certainly attracted a lot of attention when Dad got it.
But he hated that Austin engine. It always needed something doing to it. He always reckoned it wasn’t a patch on the old sidevalve Morris engine in the MO he had before. That could be because the manifold cracked when the car was only a fortnight old. There were no spares in the country, of course, and he had to endure being pulled over by the police several times a day for an excessively noisy vehicle. Which was brand new. Not exactly the sort of thing to endear you to it.
When the new “Farina” Oxford came out, Dad was unimpressed. That was just an Austin with Morris badges, not a “proper” Morris at all. From then on, he drove Fords.
Decades ago, a lady friend had that SW, in lhd in the Vancouver area. I drove it often, with no idea of it’s rarity…
Station Wagon Week is brilliant! If it comes around again, perhaps it will touch on our favourite family cars: Hillman Minx estate [a miniature Ford Country Squire],Ford Cortina wagon [ours was seriously modified], and our grey-market
Citroen GS Club. Just hoping.
Quite interesting, I had no idea of this car’s long life.
Definitely was expecting something about the Amby (Ambassador) in India when I saw the mention about Kolkata. I rode in more than a few in Delhi as taxis, with the meter mounted on the fender. Roomy, rugged and with a high ground clearance (to account for rougher conditions). Definitely an Indian icon!
Just adding an assembly line pic of it. Would like to take a ride in one the Ambassadors… 🙂
Friend from India told me these all had the same key. True?
The “new” Isuzu engine/transmission introductory ad is english, not hindi. Did they exported the Ambassador overseas? I saw very few of them in the U.K. Thought it was private import, ain’t official!?
It’s normal for an Indian market ad to be in English.
Wonderful read! I own a 1970 Hindustan Ambassador Mark II in India and have painstakingly restored it recently. Here are a few pics of my car.
Thank you Param ;
That’s just lovely .
-Nate
I am currently in Bangalore, and these are now fast disappearing from the roads – In my past 10 or so days, I have seen less than a 10 of these on the roads. The Taxi’s have been mostly replaced by Ubers here driving Suzuki Swifts… Which is sad.
What is also amazing but often unmentioned about these Oxfords is the sheer amount of roominess inside. Despite the RWD chassis, these are very much Issigonis cars. A very short dash-to-axle distance gave more wheel arch intrusion that you expect in a RWD car, and put the driver further forward than in other British saloons of the period, but opens up plenty of space in the rear. Large, deep windows make the interior seem wonderfully light-filled and add to the aura of spaciousness. They may look a bit ungainly from the outside, but a ride in one soon has you thinking all car should be like this. Classic issigonis.
In comparison the Austin Cambridge (named for the rival university city to Oxford!) seemed more normally-proportioned with a longer front and rear, but had a smaller, narrower, darker interior – not exactly cramped, but you could feel the difference. And when the Series V (Farina) Oxford came along, it was Austin in all but name, with the Austin’s inferior packaging and wobbly, bouncy front end – a sure sign that management didn’t give a stuff about superior engineering, only Austin dominance.
The 1958 all-seel Traveller is quite like the FX4 taxi, side on. The upright format isn’t far off a modern SUV either.
Hindustan also have the rights and tooling to the last Vauxhall Victor now renamed Contessa also with Isuzu diesel and 5 speed whether it lasts as long as the Oxford is yet to be seen
The Contessa was built until 2002, so it didn’t outlive the old Morris. It did outlive it’s German cousin the Rekord D though.
In around 2004 I was driven across northern India and back in a Hindustani Ambassador. Although it was no ball of fire, and our progress was stately rather than quick, it was extremely spacious, quiet and comfortable. Considering that even by then the design was some 50 years old, it served its purpose amazingly well. Its problem was that even by the late 1950s, it looked so stodgy and old-fashioned. Put one next to a Mk 2 Ford Consul, and you will see what I mean.
I spent three months in Calcutta back in 2005. Ambassador cars were everywhere.
I saw a few hoods up and the two things that I remember was a flat head four and an Isuzu engine.
They are tough little cars to be able to survive the conditions there. The gas tank however was inside the trunk tucked into a fender well.
You could tell a difference in model year by the different dash but I never found out the specifics.
My father had a body shop in New Brunswick, Canada in the 1960’s. One day he brought home a 1958 Morris Oxford with light front end damage. I was 15 at the time and convinced him I could restore it. Borrowed a porta power from the school mechanics shop and pulled it back into reasonable shape. I picked up a twin carb intake manifold from an MG that was rotting away in a swamp. Had it almost ready for the road until someone broke into the garage and broke every piece of glass and light on it.
It has always been my biggest regret I didn’t get to put it on the road. Every now and then I dream about what might have been.